Do gold earrings have a stamp? Not always. Many carry none, and small studs often have nowhere to put one. Earrings made of karat gold all the way through are usually stamped with their karat, such as 14K or 585. Plated earrings should only carry a gold mark that says they're plated, and many carry none. Where there's a stamp, it's a claim rather than proof. Our materials page explains what our own gold earrings are made of.
Myth: all real gold earrings have a stamp
Fact: US law doesn't require gold jewelry to be stamped.
Marking is common, not compulsory. Federal law sets rules for marks that are applied, but doesn't require one. On a pair of small studs, there's often no flat surface large enough for a legible mark, so many genuine karat gold studs are simply unmarked.
So do all gold earrings have a stamp? No, and a missing stamp doesn't tell you the earring isn't gold.
Myth: a stamp proves what the earring is made of
Fact: a stamp is applied by whoever made the earring, and it can be wrong.
Inexpensive jewelry can carry a false stamp, and a stamp is rarely checked by anyone before it reaches a store shelf.
Even an honest stamp leaves a lot out. A karat mark tells you how much of the metal is gold. It doesn't tell you what the rest is. A 14K earring is 14 parts gold out of 24, and the other 10 parts are other metals that no stamp names.
It also only describes the part it's on. Earring backs are often generic, and frequently come from a different supplier than the earring itself. A stamp on the post says nothing about the butterfly. When I look at a back, the question I ask is whether it's 24 karat plating, or just a gold color on a brass base.
Myth: a hallmark and a stamp are the same thing
Fact: a hallmark is an independent test result, and the US doesn't have a hallmarking system.
In the UK and some other countries, a hallmark is applied by an independent assay office after the metal has been tested. In the US, gold marks are applied by the maker. They're a statement from the maker, not a certificate from anyone else.
So if you're asking "do gold earrings have a hallmark", the answer for most earrings sold in the US is no. They may have a quality mark, which is a different thing.
Myth: plated gold can be stamped with its karat
Fact: a karat mark on its own describes gold all the way through, so a plated piece shouldn't carry one.
The FTC Guides for the Jewelry Industry, 16 CFR 23.3, treat it as misleading to describe a plated product as gold unless the description makes clear the gold is only on the surface. That's why plated pieces that are marked at all carry a qualified mark, such as GP for gold plated or GEP for gold electroplated, with the karat of the plating in front of it.
Here's why a bare karat stamp would mislead on a plated earring. "24K" pressed into a post reads as 24 karat gold through the whole piece. On a plated earring, the gold is the surface finish, and something else is underneath. The stamp would describe the outside and imply the inside.
| What you see | What it's claiming | What it doesn't tell you |
|---|---|---|
| A karat mark, such as 14K or 585 | Karat gold all the way through | What the other metals in the alloy are |
| A plating mark, such as GP or GEP | A gold surface over another metal | What the base metal is |
| No mark at all | Nothing | Anything, either way |
| A mark on the front only | Something about the front | What the post and back are made of |
Myth: no stamp means the earring is fake
Fact: no stamp proves nothing either way.
Plenty of honest jewelry is unmarked. If an earring has no stamp, the useful next step is to find out what it's made of from the maker, in words. Our article on how to tell if jewelry is real gold or gold plated covers the checks that don't depend on a stamp.
Do gold earrings have a stamp you can read? How to check
If you're wondering how to check hallmark on earrings, or any other mark, this is the order to look in.
- Look on the post first, near where it meets the front. That's where most stud marks sit.
- Check the back of the setting and the butterfly itself.
- Use your phone's camera zoom or a magnifying glass. Marks on studs are tiny.
- Read what you find against the table above.
- If there's nothing, ask the seller what the front, the post and the back are made of.
Karat matters too, particularly for sensitive ears. Our article on whether 14K gold is good for sensitive ears looks at what the other 10 parts of a 14K alloy can mean for her.
What we do
Our gold earrings carry no stamp or marking. They're plated, and we say so: pure 24 karat gold applied with Aunix™ 24K, our engineered gold finish, onto an S316L Surgical Steel core. A "24K" stamp on its own would read as 24 karat gold through the whole earring, which isn't what they are. So instead of a mark on the post, we write out what they're made of in full, on every product page and on our materials page.
The S316L Surgical Steel core runs through the setting, the post and the butterfly back, and the whole earring is then finished in pure 24 karat gold. All gold plating is only as safe as the metal underneath, which is why the core matters more than any mark could.
When I sent pairs to SGS, I chose the pieces with the largest surface against the ear, and SGS tested the setting, the post and the butterfly back, not just the front. Independently tested to ASTM F2923, CPSIA and BSEN 71-3, with nickel release not detected under EN 1811. Report BTO 341803/1.
If you'd like to see a simple plated stud, the 4mm Ball Stud Earrings in 24K Pure Gold are the plainest in the range. The rest are on the 24K Pure Gold collection, and our guide to what children's earrings are made of explains the materials behind the marks.
Questions parents ask next
What does 585 mean on gold earrings? It's the fineness in parts per thousand. 585 means 58.5% gold, which is 14 karat.
Are gold plated earrings stamped? Sometimes, with a qualified mark such as GP or GEP. Many plated earrings carry no mark at all. Our article on whether gold plated earrings are safe for sensitive ears explains why the base metal matters more than the mark.
Can a stamp wear off? A pressed mark usually lasts, although it can fill with dirt and become hard to read.
Does a stamp tell me if an earring has nickel in it? No. A karat mark describes the gold content only. Nickel release is measured by testing, such as EN 1811.
Is an unstamped gold earring safe for her ears? A stamp can't answer that. What matters is what every part touching her skin is made of, and whether that's been tested.
Related reading
- How can I tell if jewelry is real gold or gold plated?
- Is 14K gold good for sensitive ears?
- Are gold plated earrings safe for sensitive ears?
- What are children's earrings actually made of?
About the author. Matt Westmore is the founder of purepixxi. He came to children's jewelry from manufacturing and sourcing rather than marketing, which means he has walked the factory floors and knows what is actually inside a product rather than what a label says about it. purepixxi uses two materials only, names them exactly, and has them independently tested.
